DIY recipes are beloved for many reasons: saving money, saving time, and the rewarding task of simply doing it yourself. Today’s post is clearly off topic from the normal USB hacks and news we typically write about. Today we’re talking about making a Starbucks-style coffee at home — not standard black coffee, but the more delicious varieties like a vanilla latte.

At the time of this post, the Coronavirus is in full swing and many Starbucks shops are closed, operating with limited hours, or have drive-thru lines that are simply too long. Here’s your in-home solution.

The first thing to understand is just how sweet Starbucks really makes their drinks. It’s well known the calorie and carbohydrate counts for a vanilla latte are fairly high. This DIY recipe helps you control those intake amounts, giving you better control over how much sugar your body gets from these sweet, delicious, energy-giving drinks.

We should really give Starbucks credit for figuring out the exact balance of sugar and caffeine needed to jump-start your heart rate in a legally addictive way.

Starting with a vanilla latte, the real magic of this drink is the full, frothy milk. There’s no requirement for the fancy frother you see behind the Starbucks counter. A simple $40 (approximately) milk frother from Amazon will do the trick. The Miroco is a fantastic product and a true life-changer for making coffee-based drinks. Probably the best “appliance” purchase we’ve made since the introduction of the DVR in 1999 (feel free to challenge us on this claim {wink}).

The first step is to brew your coffee. Use any brand you like. If you want the closest taste to Starbucks, use their coffee, but honestly, with enough sugar and syrup added, the coffee brand doesn’t matter all that much.

Once the coffee is brewed, fire up the milk frother.